Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Prosecutor Kym Worthy are fighting over her $25.6-million budget. She says she can't fulfill duties without more. / WILLIAM ARCHIE/DFP

Written by

Elisha Anderson, John Wisely and Gina Damron

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

PATRICIA BECK/DFP

Jamaris Smith saved hundreds of dollars Monday when he beat two tickets in 36th District Court in Detroit for an unlikely reason: The prosecutor never showed up.

In the latest volley in an escalating war between Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Executive Robert Ficano over budget cuts, county prosecutors didn't appear to handle cases in the criminal traffic division Monday. Judges were forced to adjourn cases or dismiss tickets.

For defendants such as Smith, Monday's no-show by county prosecutors brought an unexpected windfall.

"It felt great that I didn't have to pay all that extra money," Smith, 23, of Detroit said as he walked out of court.

But it also meant a loss of revenue for the financially strapped 36th District Court, which already is struggling to collect about $254 million in fees and other costs, according to a report issued in February.

"This thing between (Worthy) and Ficano is creating quite a ripple effect here," Chief Judge Kenneth King said Monday.

With judges being forced to adjourn or dismiss cases, "You don't have justice being dispensed," he said.

The battle of wills could get more serious before the week is out. Worthy warned that prosecutors will determine on a day-by-day basis whether they can cover the misdemeanor domestic-violence docket -- cases that she said could turn into murders if they aren't followed properly. Other misdemeanor cases could also go uncovered.

A spokeswoman for Ficano's office accused Worthy of using "scare tactics as a cover for her deficit spending."

Last fall, Ficano proposed, and county commissioners approved, a $25.6-million general fund budget for Worthy. Worthy said that's millions less than Ficano promised her and not enough to fulfill her constitutional duties.

Worthy has sued Ficano, and that case is pending.

On Friday, she said, 26 of her employees -- 22 lawyers, three investigators and a weekend clerical worker -- were laid off to save money.

Besides not covering traffic cases, including drunken driving cases, and possibly being no-shows in misdemeanor courtrooms, prosecutors won't have time to prepare their cases and witnesses, Worthy said. And if they don't get a conviction, a case can't be retried.

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"This is not how it should be done," she said. "We shouldn't be worried from one day to the next if something is going to happen to somebody that could have been prevented because we can't get to their case fast enough, because we don't have enough people," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Wayne County Executive's Office said the Wayne County Commission approved a budget for the Prosecutor's Office in the fall.

"It's her call as to how she wants to allocate those resources," June West said Monday. "She has been spending at a rate that she is going to exceed her commission-approved budget and has known that and has chosen to deal with it in this fashion."

Worthy had a different view.

"They're calling it 'deficit spending' when they knew when they gave us this money, it wasn't enough to sustain this budget," Worthy told the Free Press on Monday.

Hope for compromise

The 26 people laid off from Worthy's staff served as project consultants. The cuts were part of the county's efforts to pare down a cumulative deficit that was about $189 million last fall.

West said that Worthy has known since late February that the "county could not extend the use of these consultants because of her office's overspending."

She said Worthy was given a budget compromise proposal last week that would increase her office's budget.

Neither Ficano's office nor a spokeswoman for Worthy released details of the proposed compromise or said how much could be added back into the budget.

"We have attempted to negotiate with the county in good faith," Worthy's spokeswoman Maria Miller said in a statement. "It is inappropriate, self-serving and disingenuous for the county to attempt to discuss any settlement in the press."

Worthy isn't the first to sue for more money. In 2011, the county settled a long-running lawsuit with the 3rd Circuit Court, agreeing to assume almost $60 million in court debt and potentially build a new courthouse, which could run $300 million or more.

Jails and management

The battle over the budget has been ongoing.

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In March 2010, Ficano signed a memorandum of understanding with Worthy, promising to propose a budget to the County Commission that would have provided $34.1 million to her office for the 2012-13 budget year.

But when budget talks began last summer, Ficano instead proposed a $25.6-million budget, which the commission approved. Worthy sued the county, claiming she couldn't fulfill her constitutionally required duties on the budget she was given.

Commissioner Laura Cox, R-Livonia, said Monday that Worthy needs to work within her budget without cutting "willy-nilly." Not sending attorneys to the courtrooms was irresponsible, Cox said.

"That is absolutely her responsibility," Cox said. "For her to shun her responsibility to the taxpayers of Wayne County is unacceptable. She is put in that position to manage."

Cox said Worthy needs to find ways to run her office more efficiently instead of just cutting services.

"She doesn't want to make any changes in the way she runs the office," Cox said. "She just doesn't want to manage, and part of her job is managing."

"We don't have the people," Worthy said. "If we had the people, we certainly would be sending them to court this morning."

Paula Bridges, a spokeswoman for Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, said the layoffs at the Prosecutor's Office will have a negative impact on judicial operations and, potentially, jail operations.

Bridges said the county's three jail facilities average about 2,000 inmates each day, and that it costs roughly $140 per day to hold each person. There may be a cost savings by eliminating prosecutors, Bridges said, but the cost to hold inmates behind bars could increase.

"Where you save the cost of the salaries, you're likely going to see more expenses down the road if, in fact, there is an increase in the amount of time that it takes to adjudicate a number of cases," she said, noting that people deserve the right to a speedy trial. "You want to prosecute cases expeditiously."

Impact of no-shows

No numbers were available for how many cases were adjourned or dismissed Monday, but 36th District Judge Lydia Nance Adams estimated that she dismissed about 20, including tickets issued to Smith.

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"All parties are supposed to be here," she said Monday. "When they are not, cases can be dismissed."

She said that if a party doesn't show up, it's often a sign that the party doesn't wish to proceed.

About 30% to 40% of tickets the 36th District Court handles are written under state statues and handled by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, King said. The others are handled by city attorneys, who are showing up.

Smith also received a ticket being handled by a city attorney and accepted responsibility for that one, paying $395 in fine and other costs, his attorney Daniel Waszak said.

The financial impact of fines going unpaid is unclear, and a city spokesman did not comment on the money going uncollected or on how the move affects citizens from a public safety standpoint.

Other district courts will also be affected, including those in Livonia, Plymouth, Romulus and Taylor, prosecutors said.

Instead of having state cases two days a week, they will be down to one, Miller said.

More Details: Shrinking staff

• Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said her office has about 160 lawyers, and some of those are paid with grant money. The number is down from 222 lawyers from September or October of last year, she said.

• In addition to the 22 lawyers laid off last week, there is no funding to hire for 30 vacant attorney positions, Worthy said.